Abstract:

One of the aims of the study is to determine the possibility of using physical activities at schools and in sports clubs to improve physical fitness levels among students with special educational needs (with talent for sports) under the conditions of integration, as well as during the unfavorable epidemiological situation caused by the COVID 19 pandemic. Selected standardized motor tests were administered to determine the levels and changes in children’s physical fitness: standing long jump, sit-ups, 10x5m shuttle run, and hexagon agility test. Somatic parameters of body height, body weight, and BMI were used to design an appropriate exercise program. By fulfilling the aim of the study, we have extended the knowledge about the effect of movement games played during a 6-week intervention program on physical fitness levels among 12- and 13-year-old normal-weight children according to their age. The experimental group of students engaged in extracurricular physical and sports education with a focus on soccer. The control group of students engaged in extracurricular physical and sports education with a focus on basketball. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to determine changes in physical fitness levels for the experimental and control groups. For the experimental group, statistically significant differences between pretest and posttest in the sit-up test and the Hexagon agility test were observed. The Mann-Whitney U test was used to determine the changes between the experimental and control group at pretest and posttest. Differences between the experimental and control group were found in body weight. A two-group educational experiment confirmed the effect of movement games on the development of lower-body explosive strength, abdominal strength endurance, running speed, and dynamic balance in the experimental group of students in extracurricular physical and sports education with a focus on football. This study was conducted within the project VEGA 1/0120/19 entitled “Movement correction of the problematic behavior of students from the standard population and students with special educational needs educated under the conditions of integration”.

Keywords:

Extracurricular physical and sports education, intervention program, COVID-19, explosive strength, running speed, strength endurance, dynamic balance.